Friday, August 11, 2017

Waikato Times letter of the week #80

From the edition of Friday 11
August. As always, spelling, punctuation, grammar and logic are exactly as
printed in the Waikato Times.

Predator-free
stupidity

The stupidest idea of this century must be to
make New Zealand predator free by 2050. Because most New Zealanders are still
science illiterate when they exit our education system, no one has thought to
question what this actually means. Consider the following:

1. Possums, rabbits, rats and mice are largely
vegetarian so cannot really be classed as predators. We will keep them.

2. Cats and dogs are predators. They will have to
go.

3. Fantails are predators of midges; kiwi are
predators of worms and weta; tuatara are predators of beetles and snails;
native owls are predators of rats and mice; and so on. They will all have to
go.

4. Humans are predators of rabbits, pigs, deer,
pheasants, many types of fish and farm animals. They will have to go.

If New Zealanders want to live in a predator-free
country this could be achieved by getting Kim Jong Un to aim his nuclear
missiles here. Do we really want to get rid of all fast-breeding animals, which
will be needed as survival foods when the next ice age comes?